Santa Cruz Tallboy V5 - The 'Do-It-All' Mountain Bike

Hi, this is my review of the Santa Cruz Tallboy V5. I rode a large size last year, so this year I wanted to try the medium frame. I really like this bike and it will be the next bike I purchase.

Video Conclusion (did not record properly for some reason): I think this bike is perfect for those who ride long distances and like to shred trail centres too; or perhaps those who have a big DH or enduro bike for harder riding, and would like a fun smaller bike to rip on those quick after work group rides. For me it's the perfect bike, as I don't have a vehicle to drive to trails, I ride there and often do 30, 40 mile round trips to ride MTB trails. The bike is very light (13.8kg) in the GX AXS reserve build I rode, which makes it a very fast and fun bike on the descents, and a rocket ship on the climbs. Personally I like the wireless electronic group-set provided by Sram, as it is precise and doesn't skip when pedalling hard (which I sometimes find with my mechanical GX gears on my Hightower). The suspension is very active and uses the short 120mm rear and 130mm front travel very well by using a linear sensitive feel off the top and gets more progressive on bigger hits. I think I only bottomed out the shock once and that was only because of a harsh rocky landing on a 5ft drop. The saying from Santa Cruz "The Tallboy is the Downhillers XC bike" really rings true as you can use it for long distance and still have fun and ride it reasonably hard considering it's only a 'light trail' bike. On the other hand, this bike is perfect for jumps - if you stiffen up the suspension a bit for local jump lines or sketchy road gaps, the bike has a very nice pop to it, likely due to the lightweight frame and progressive suspension. And did I mention the handy little glovebox storage in the frame? The bike comes with a tool wrap bag to go in the glovebox, where you can store an inner tube, multi tool and even snacks if you like!

Thanks for watching, be sure to subscribe for the next bike review which is the Santa Cruz Heckler SL.